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From<\/strong> Brighton A city with its own psych festival, and indeed a gig promotion company called Acid Box, Brighton has no shortage of lysergic left-field rock bands. But while most of their local contemporaries tend to the more recumbent end of the psychedelic spectrum, Oral Habit deal in what they call \u201cthe ear-rattling psychic dream of choked-up acid punks\u201d, a sound that feels overpowering, explosive and intense: you could say it\u2019s more closely aligned to the disoriented racket of mid-60s freakbeat than the pie-eyed beatitudes of the Summer of Love; equally you could suggest it\u2019s a very contemporary form of psychedelia, rebooted for the troubled, disturbing climate of 2025.<\/p>\n Initially a home recording project of frontman Charlie Hales now expanded into a trio with the addition of his brother Felix on drums, and his partner Tippi Lewis on bass, Oral Habit\u2019s recent EP Garage Frock! offers four short, sharp bursts that expand on the sound of its predecessor, Cardiovascular Spectacular, throwing up an impressively bloody and chaotic melange of guitar fuzz, echo-drenched vocals, feedback-drenched solos and primitive riffs that feels as if it was recorded with everything turned up to full volume, including the mellotron that decorates I\u2019m Free. Even the one track that initially presents as a ballad, The Coast, eventually gives way to a crushing, sludgy grind. As statements of intent go, it\u2019s impressively full-on, as is Charlie\u2019s explanation of the band\u2019s sonic philosophy: \u201cif a button\u2019s there, it\u2019s there to be pushed.\u201d Alexis Petridis<\/em><\/p>\n
Recommended if you like<\/strong> Osees, Ty Segall, the noisier bits of King Gizzard
Up next<\/strong> Currently working on a debut album for release next year.<\/p>\nThis week\u2019s best new tracks<\/h2>\n